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Not to be condescending, but I really feel sorry for you. There is nothing wrong with ambition, but when it becomes a prison of obligation where you feel the n

Not to be condescending, but I really feel sorry for you. There is nothing wrong with ambition, but when it becomes a prison of obligation where you feel the need to pay back the expectation of others then I feel it is misplaced. May I ask, who do you feel obligated to? Your parents or society? Is there really an obligation on you, or are you just taking on the obligation as a way of feeling special? Do you feel that if you don't achieve your "best" that society will suffer? If I were an ambitious person that I would be begging you to pursue a mediocre career. The fewer "privileged" people at the top, the more room there is for those who have not had such privilege.

scottLobster 9y ago
I'd say society by definition suffers when people don't do their best. ("Best" being a function of starting point, capabilities, natural inclinations, support, etc) Do you want mediocre firemen? Mediocre janitors? Mediocre cops? Mediocre teachers? Mediocre Doctors? Of course not. What you call a "prison of obligation", I call civic duty, and I happily embrace it. Responsibility is what gives life meaning. It's what serves as a barometer for whether you wasted a day or not. Granted one has to be careful not to take on an inhuman amount of responsibility, that just leads to burnout and health consequences, but it's hardly a "prison". I've always felt good after a week of hard, productive work and empty after a week of Netflix, beer and video games. I can enjoy the latter for a day or two, maybe three, but past that I'm going to look for something more meaningful. In my case that responsibility, as far as my career is concerned, comes from my family's background. I'm fortunate enough to live in a society, however flawed, where my dad the son of an enlisted Coast Guardsman (although grandpa eventually worked his way up to Warrant Officer 3 over 20 Years) and a stay-at-home mom could work his way into the upper-middle class and provide me with everything he did. Society doesn't do this out of altruism, Western society and Capitalism in general on average reward smart people who work hard precisely so they'll contribute more to society. Granted the system is far from perfect, there's some corruption and society rewards some areas more than others, and the system is having more trouble in recent years than it's had in the past, but the general principle holds true. Conscientious people with high (but not too high) IQs are the most successful demographic: http://www.businessinsider.com/conscientiousness-predicts-success-2014-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/conscientiousness-predicts-su... (some good sources in the article) To whom much is given much is expected. Imagine our political system gave some people 1 vote and some people 1000 votes. Now 1000 votes typically won't swing a national election, but wouldn't those lucky few with 1000 votes have a greater moral obligation to use them wisely? So I run on a hybrid of internal passion and external responsibility. Passion comes and goes in waves, often my impetus for starting something, and responsibility fills in the gaps and makes sure I follow through. It's worked pretty well so far. Also it's hardly a zero-sum game at the top, particularly in engineering. You need look no further than any daily news source to see society crying out for competent individuals from all walks of life.

scottLobster 9y ago

I'd say society by definition suffers when people don't do their best. ("Best" being a function of starting point, capabilities, natural inclinations, support, etc) Do you want mediocre firemen? Mediocre janitors? Mediocre cops? Mediocre teachers? Mediocre Doctors? Of course not. What you call a "prison of obligation", I call civic duty, and I happily embrace it. Responsibility is what gives life meaning. It's what serves as a barometer for whether you wasted a day or not. Granted one has to be careful not to take on an inhuman amount of responsibility, that just leads to burnout and health consequences, but it's hardly a "prison". I've always felt good after a week of hard, productive work and empty after a week of Netflix, beer and video games. I can enjoy the latter for a day or two, maybe three, but past that I'm going to look for something more meaningful. In my case that responsibility, as far as my career is concerned, comes from my family's background. I'm fortunate enough to live in a society, however flawed, where my dad the son of an enlisted Coast Guardsman (although grandpa eventually worked his way up to Warrant Officer 3 over 20 Years) and a stay-at-home mom could work his way into the upper-middle class and provide me with everything he did. Society doesn't do this out of altruism, Western society and Capitalism in general on average reward smart people who work hard precisely so they'll contribute more to society. Granted the system is far from perfect, there's some corruption and society rewards some areas more than others, and the system is having more trouble in recent years than it's had in the past, but the general principle holds true. Conscientious people with high (but not too high) IQs are the most successful demographic: http://www.businessinsider.com/conscientiousness-predicts-success-2014-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/conscientiousness-predicts-su... (some good sources in the article) To whom much is given much is expected. Imagine our political system gave some people 1 vote and some people 1000 votes. Now 1000 votes typically won't swing a national election, but wouldn't those lucky few with 1000 votes have a greater moral obligation to use them wisely? So I run on a hybrid of internal passion and external responsibility. Passion comes and goes in waves, often my impetus for starting something, and responsibility fills in the gaps and makes sure I follow through. It's worked pretty well so far. Also it's hardly a zero-sum game at the top, particularly in engineering. You need look no further than any daily news source to see society crying out for competent individuals from all walks of life.